561 
AND LEG OF THE HOKSE. 
being tipped with cartilage must materially diminish concussion; 
but that the smallest metacarpal bones, from their elastic connexion 
with the cannon, must still more contribute in taking off the jar. 
When, however, we see so many horses whose metacarpal bones 
are united together by ossific matter performing all their paces so 
admirably, and with such safety, we must not assign too high an 
office to the splint bones, or consider their elastic connexion with 
the cannon as indispensably necessary for the performance of the 
functions of the leg. Young horses, of course, possess greater 
freedom and elasticity in their action than older ones, and to this 
elasticity the splint bones, no doubt, greatly contribute. 
“ There is, perhaps, no individual part of the body of the horse 
more interesting, or more important to the horseman, than the fet¬ 
lock joint, and none, certainly, which demands or engages more 
attentively the minute examination of the practised eye. It is, 
indeed, the good or bad formation of this part which makes the 
difference, and frequently the only difference, between one animal 
worth a hundred pounds and another worth only twenty, — its 
faulty structure condemning the latter to the purposes of common 
harness work, and its proper conformation enabling the former to 
carry a heavy weight over a stiff country with safety and pleasure. 
“Important, however, as this joint is to the rider, it is one of 
the most difficult for the amateur to examine when purchasing of 
an ordinary dealer; the animal is kept so constantly in fear of the 
lash, that, however knuckling he may be on his joints, the excite¬ 
ment of fear prevents his exhibiting his Aveak points. The best 
w'ay to examine the fetlocks properly is to approach the animal 
quietly in the stable, and whilst apparently looking at his eyes or 
into his mouth, to cast our own organs of vision down to his fet¬ 
lock joints, Avhen, if he totters and shakes, hoAvever good his other 
([ualities may be, he is not an animal of great value, being in all pro¬ 
bability unsafe to ride, and likely to fail in these joints when hardly 
worked. It matters very little Avhether the horse was, as the dealer 
generally says he was, foaled so, because the fault is by no means 
less from being natural. Horses with this upright fetlock may 
not be disposed to trip, or hit their toe oftener than many others; 
but, should they do so, they are probably at once thrown off their 
balance, and come down with great force. Connected Avith this too 
upright and tottering fetlock, Ave often see the flexor tendons badly 
developed, and bound in at the knee. 
“ The Fetlock Joint should form an angle of about forty-five de¬ 
grees; a greater obliquity disposes the part to Aveakness—a less ob- 
li([uity to unsafeness. The latter throAvs the weight too much on the 
bones, the former on the ligaments and sinews. Of the tAVO faults, 
hoAvevcr, the iq)right fetlock is the most frequent, and I should say 
